Machine for finishing hat-bodies



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

0. E. KBATOR.

MACHINE FOR FINISHING HAT BODIES.

Patented Sept. 24. 1889.

l/WE/VTOR WITNESSES:

$2 ATTOR/VEM (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. E. KEATOR.

MACHINE FOR FINISHING HAT BODIES.

No. 411,662. Patented Sept. 24, 1889.

M/VE/VTM 6M l/ Arromvm WITNESSES N. PETERS. Phoko-Uthogmpher. Wzshinghm, n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. KEATOR, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR FINISHING HAT-BODIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Iletters Patent No. 411,662, dated September 24;, 1889.

Application filed April 8, 1889. Serial No. 306,307. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. KEATOR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, Kings county, New York, have invented a Machine for Finishing Hat-Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of an improved machine for the finishing of hat-bodies as they come from the battery to be made ready for the shaping-machine In the ordinary method of making hats this finishing operation upon the hat-bodies is carried out by hand, and is termed the pinningout process. The hatbody in the pinning-out process is laid folded or flattened out upon a bench or table, and a rolling-pin is rolled over it by the operator to smooth the hat-body and to drive out the moisture and to some extent to finish the felting operation. In some instances this has been attempted by machine; but usually in in such cases, as in the hand process, the hatbody has been operated on while flattened out or folded. This leaves croze marks or creases on the line of the folds, which give trouble in the subsequent operations, as set forth more fully in an application for a patent filed by me April 8, 1889, Serial No. 306,308, for a method of finishing hat-bodies. My present invention of a machine is designed for practically carrying out that method.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the machine, showing the dies separated; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 1 2, Fig. 1, but showing the dies brought together.

The essential feature of this machine is the pair of dies E and F, of which one is a male and the other a female die of the conical shape and about the size of the ordinary hatbody as it comes from the battery in thehatfactory. These dies are provided with means for heating them, and for this purpose they are made hollow and have inlet and outlet pipes 19 p for steam. In order to provide for the introduction and removal of the hathody, the dies are made so as to be freely moved apart, and for convenience I prefer to make the male die E movable from andtoward the female die. I make this male die the lower one, as it is more convenient to put the hat-body onto the male die than to introduce it into the female die. This die E, I therefore mount upon a movable base E, which is guided vertically Within the frame-work B of the machine, and preferably upon tie-rods D. These tie-rods unite a base-plate D with the cross-head b at the top of the machine.

The lower die E and its base are counterbalanced by weights WV, hung to cords or chains 10, which pass over pulleys o c on the frame, and are connected to the movable base E, as shown in Fig. 1. To operate the moving die I provide a toggle-joint consisting of a pair of levers g g, pivoted to each other, one lever being hinged to the under side of the base of the die, while the other is secured to a cross-shaft G, mounted in hearings on the base-plate D. Stops s on the adjacent ends of the toggle-levers, while allowing the pivoting-point to pass beyond the center line, as shown in Fig. 2, prevent it from going too far. To operate the toggle I may provide on the end of the cross-shaft G a long hand-lever G, under the control of the operator; or atreadle T may be employed with or without the handlever. If a trcadle is used, it may have an arm 1', with a connecting-rod 2f reaching to the joint of the toggle-levers.

The die F may be fixed rigidly in the frame; but I prefer to provide it with means for imparting to it a short reciprocating movement when desired. For this purpose the die may be guided upon the tie-rods D and hung to links H, which are guided in the cross-head and suspended by a connecting-rod h from an eccentric t on a cross-shaft I. This shaft is mounted in bearings upon the cross-head of the frame and provided with a belt-pulley or gear to rotate it. By imparting motion to this shaft a short reciprocating motion may be imparted to the die F. TWhen this die is at the bottom of its downward movement,its position will be such that if the lower die is then elevated the hat-body placed upon the lower die will be pressed between the two. If

the upper die is leftstationary, the hat-body will thus be subjected to heat and pressure, and this may be continued as long as necessary, with or without separating the dies, as often as desired by depressing the lower die. The effect will be to drive the moisture out of the hat-body and to smooth it uniformly all over without leaving any troublesome croze marks or creases in the hat-body, and so to greatly simplify and facilitate the subsequent operations.

If it be found desirable to complete the feltin g of the hat, the described reciprocating motion may be imparted to the upper die with the result of giving a pounding or rubbing action to the hat bod y while held on the lower die in its normal conical shape.

I am aware that it has been proposed to construct machines for pinning out hat-bodies While unfolded by pressing the hat-bodies between rotating cones or rollers; but such a construction does not give a uniform pressing action, and the tip or apex of the hat-body has been either left untouched or has been operated upon by additional small rollers, which would form lines or marks on the hatbody. By the use of the conical male and female dies of the proper size to receive the hatbody between them without creases I am able to impart a uniform pressure to the body practically all over its surface.

By screwing up or unscrewing the .n uts n 011 the tie rods D, above the cross-head b, the baseplate D may be adjusted to bring the dies into proper relation with each other.

I claim as my invention- 1. A machine for finishing felt hat-bodies to prepare them for shaping, said machine comprising a pair of heated conical male and female dies separable from each other and of a size and shape to receive and press the hatbodies as they come from the battery, all substantially as described.

2. A machine for finishing felt hat-bodies to prepare them for shaping, comprising a pair of stean1heated conical male and female dies separable from each other and of a size and shape to receive and press the hat-bodies as they come from the battery, all substantially as described.

3. The combination of a frame and a pair of conical dies adapted to receive and press a hat-body as it comes from the battery, with means for imparting a short reciprocating motion to one of the dies, all substantially as described.

4. The combination of a frame and a pair of conical dies adapted to receive and press a hat-bod y, with means for imparting a reciprocating motion to one of the dies, and devices for moving the other die toward and from the reciprocating die for the introduction and removal of the hat-body.

5. The combination of the frame and pair of conical dies adapted to receive and press a hat-body, with togglelevers to raise and depress the lower die and a lever or treadle to operate the toggles, all substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed myname to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES E. KEATOR.

WVitnesses:

S. C. CONNOR, HUBERT HOVVSON. 

